S Rank mission! Bring Sasuke back!
by Sharingan300
Summary: Chouji, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara have all defeated or killed the Sound Jounin. And Naruto has finally reached Sasuke. But, what´s this? Sasuke doesn't even WANT to go back to Konoha? What´s going on here? Read the story, if y
1. Please come back, my friend!

(OBS! I don´t own Naruto. This is just a story that came from my own imagination. Even though I HAVE used bits and pieces from the Anime. This is an AU fic about what could have happened during and sometime after the "Sasuke hunt". Well, with that said... Enjoy!)

N.A.R.U.T.O

S-Rank mission! Bring Sasuke back!

Chapter 1: Please come back, my friend!

The wind blew strongly around them. Their hair caught the wind and flapped  
over their heads. The two teenagers stared into each other´s eyes. A pair of soft sea blue eyes met a pair of hard coal black eyes. They were standing about 5 meters from each other.  
One of the teenagers had a sad look on his face, while the other had an angry  
look on his face.

"Why did you come here, Naruto? I told you not to come here! I thought that  
at least you would understand!" One of the teenagers barked.

The other teenager didn´t flinch. He took a half step forward.

"Come back to the village Sasuke...please." The teenager said.

Sasuke was taken aback by the calm response he recieved, but recovered quickly.

"Go back? I will never go back! That place is merely the place where I grew up!  
Nothing more, nothing less." Sasuke stated.

Naruto sighed. His eyes locked onto the Uchiha boy.

"Don´t do this, Sasuke. I don´t want to fight you. Just...come back to the village,  
and all of this will be forgotten. No one´s going to charge you for what you did.  
Please come back." Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke snorted and entered a battle pose.

"Orochimaru has given me the power I need! With this power I can finally kill my  
brother! I can finally have revenge! I will not give this power up! If you´re so hell bent  
on stopping me, then you´ll have to fight me!" Sasuke stated.

Naruto slowly slid into a battle pose. For a while, he just looked at his long time friend.

"...She told me to do this." Naruto suddenly said.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this.

"She?" He wondered.

"Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan asked me to bring you back to the village, Sasuke. I promised Sakura-chan that I would bring you back. So that´s what I´m gonna do!" Naruto said.

Sasuke cringed when his long time friend mentioned Sakura. For a second, he could see her before him, smiling at him. He quickly shook his head and pushed all memories to the back of his head.

"So what? I, I don´t care!" Sasuke yelled.

"She was crying, Sasuke. She was crying her eyes out when she told me about your departure. She really likes you, you know. More than she likes anybody else." Naruto stated quietly.

Sasuke again cringed. He was attacked by another flood of memories of their times together.  
Again he pushed those thoughts away.

"I don´t give a damn! I don´t c, care about Sakura! N, not at all!" Sasuke yelled.

He heard the lie in his own voice. Naruto sighed heavily.

"Sasuke...please." Naruto begged.

Sasuke went quiet. He closed his eyes for a long time. Naruto saw how the other boy´s  
muscles relaxed. (Good. It seems that the good side in him has finally won.) Naruto thought.  
A wave of relief washed over him. It was gone when Sasuke opened his eyes, though.  
Sasuke stared at Naruto with crimson coloured eyes with two black dots around the pupils.  
He growled and resumed his fighting stance.

"Didn´t you listen to what I said in the beginning? I will never go back! Never!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto´s facial expression hardened and he resumed his own fighting stance.

"Sasuke..." He said.

Sasuke´s face disorted into a mask of rage.

"If you´re so hell bent on bringing me back to that place, then fight me! Come on Naruto! What are you, scared?  
Come on! FIGHT ME!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto didn´t flinch.

"I guess there´s no avoiding this..." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke growled. The Cursed Seal glowed on his neck briefly, then it started spinning. Soon, strange  
markings started spreading out from the Cursed Seal. The markings began to cover his body.  
Naruto saw this and realised that he had to fight. He reached deep within himself.  
(Kyuubi! Damned fox! Lend me your power!)  
He concentrated, and a strange but familliar feeling started to whell up inside of him.  
Orange Chakra started to take form around his body. It grew and expanded untill it covered his whole body.  
Naruto growled, and so did Sasuke. (Step one complete...now to step two.) The two boys thought at once.  
Sasuke roared into the sky and purple Chakra enveloped his body. The ground buckled underneath his  
feeth and formed a crater. Sasuke grit and ungrit his teeth while clenching and unclenching his fists.  
His hair grew about five times bigger in size and the natural spikes in it multiplied. It stretched down his back a bit. His hair then turned blue. Sasuke´s skin changed colour to light brown. The purple Chakra grew and expanded around him. Sasuke screamed into the sky and the Chakra changed into a purple flame covering his body. Sasuke relaxed slightly and looked at the other teenager with a mad smile. Naruto screamed and the orange Chakra grew even stronger. The ground started cracking around him and  
a crater formed under him. Then, without warning, a rush of Chakra gushed out from within him and  
filled his body. Naruto roared and the orange Chakra around him changed to red. Then, his body started to  
change. Naruto´s nails changed into claws, his teeth gained fangs, the whisker marks on his cheeks grew longer and  
became rougher, claws sprouted from his feet, his hair rose above his head and spiked itself.  
Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were no longer blue. They were now blood red and the  
pupil was viral. Naruto threw his head back and a loud howl escaped his throat. His Chakra grew redder and  
left his body. It started spiraling around him. Naruto let out another howl, and the Chakra engulfed his body in  
a red flame. Naruto relaxed slightly and looked at the other teenager with a frown.  
The two teenagers looked at each other. Purple Chakra burned strongly around one of them, while red Chakra  
burned strongly around the other.

"Let´s start this already!" Sasuke yelled and started running.

* * *

Well, everyone! Here's chapter 1 of a story that I think is one of my very best! I hope you will enjoy it! 


	2. Kyuubi vs Cursed Seal!

Chapter 2: Kyuubi vs Cursed Seal!

Sasuke charged at his former friend. He left afterimages behind due to his insane speed.  
Naruto´s red eyes followed his movement perfectly.  
He sunk down on all fours and growled. Naruto then charged Sasuke, running on all fours. They reached each other, and Sasuke threw a punch. Naruto saw it coming and dodged it by jumping back. Sasuke´s fist hit the ground for a second, and Naruto acted. He grabbed Sasuke´s arm with one hand and put the other on the ground. Naruto then lifted his left leg from the ground and delivered a devastating kick. His foot made contact with Sasuke´s jaw and the boy flew back. Then his body exploded into smoke, leaving a piece of wood in it's place. Naruto´s eyes widened in surprise. He quickly leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding 5 kunai´s. Naruto´s enhanced eyes quickly tracked down his enemy. Sasuke was already running towards him. Naruto jumped into the air and put his feet together while spreading his arms. "Here´s my own version of Kiba´s attack! Uzumaki Naruto Taijutsu! Drilling Fang Attack!" Naruto yelled. He started spinning with an insane speed. Sasuke analysed the technique with his Sharingan and frowned. He stopped running and made some rapid hand seals.

"Fire Element - Grand Fireball Technique!" Sasuke yelled.

He made a circle with one of his fingers and put it over his mouth. He blew out a huge fireball. Naruto´s spiraling body hit the fireball, and for a moment they were locked in a stand-still. Then Naruto´s rapidly rotating body drilled through the fireball and headed straight for Sasuke. The blue haired teenager frowned, then he jumped out of the way in the last second. Naruto stopped spinning the moment he hit the ground and ran after Sasuke.  
Sasuke made some hand seals and put two erect fingers at the side of his mouth.

"Fire Element - Phoenix Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled.

He shot several small fireballs from his mouth.  
Naruto had seen this attack many times before and he immediately started running in a Z-pattern. The fireballs missed him, and he jumped into the air and bared his claws.

"Drilling Fang Attack!" Naruto yelled and performed the spiral attack again.

Sasuke smirked.

"That won´t work on me!" He yelled.

Sasuke jumped out of the way, making Naruto´s attack miss once again. Naruto stopped spinning and growled at Sasuke. He quickly put his hands together with two fingers vertical and two fingers horizontal.

"Shadow Replication Technique!" Naruto yelled.

Smoke erupted from him and several clones that looked just like him appeared around him.  
(My Sharingan can´t make out wich is the real one. Well, more fun for me!) Sasuke thought.

"Fire Element - Grand Fireball Technique!" Sasuke let loose with a devastating fireball attack.

The fireball headed straight for the Naruto clones.

"Scram!" One of the clones yelled.

All the clones scattered and avoided the fireball. They all headed for one target. Sasuke.  
The Sharingan user grinned. (Now this is going to be fun...) He thought. Sasuke then charged straight into the attacking clones. He punched one of them and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke put his hands on the ground and lifted his legs into the air. He spun his legs around with insane speed. Sasuke flew through the pack of clones in a whirlwind and destroyed them all in a matter of seconds.  
He stopped spinning and landed perfectly on his feet. He looked behind him and noticed his enemy.  
He grinned and blurred away. Sasuke reappeared a second later, right beside his foe.  
He drew a kunai and drove it into Naruto´s side. The blonde boy twitched, and Sasuke grinned.

"I win." Sasuke stated.

Naruto twitched once more, then he suddenly dissolved into smoke! Sasuke´s eyes widened.

"A Shadow Replication? Then...!" Sasuke turned, and his eyes widened.

Naruto dropped down from above him, his red eyes burning. Sasuke started to move but it was futile.  
Naruto came in close and drew back his fist.

"I´VE GOT YOU!" A loud smack announced that he had hit gold.

Saliva flew out of Sasuke´s mouth and his feet left the ground.

"You bastard...!" Naruto wisphered to himself.

As soon as Naruto´s feet touched the ground, he jumped at Sasuke.  
He was ready to deliver another direct hit. Just as Sasuke was about to hit the ground, he suddenly threw out his arms and made a graceful sommersault back onto his feet.  
This didn´t stop Naruto from charging in, fist clenched and fangs bared. Sasuke frowned as he watched the fox boy get closer.  
(He was actually able to land a direct hit? I have to admit that he thought of a pretty good plan.) Sasuke thought.  
Sasuke then lowered himself into a battle stance. Naruto reached him and threw a punch.  
Sasuke knocked his arm away and threw a punch of his own. Naruto ducked and delivered an uppercut, but Sasuke managed to dodge his attack.  
The blue haired boy threw a kick aimed for the head, but Naruto jumped into the air and caught his leg. Sasuke´s eyes widened slightly at this. Naruto spun around and threw Sasuke over his shoulder.  
Sasuke spun around in the air and managed to land skillfully on the ground. The two combatants stared at each other. Blood red eyes met crimson red eyes tainted with two black dots. Then they both blurred away.  
They reappeared a distance away, throwing punches and kicks at each other in a frenzy. After about ten seconds without neither combatant getting in a single blow, they both sped up their attacks and increased their efforts.  
Their movements became a blur as they tried to overthrow each other. Naruto let out a battle cry and started attacking Sasuke with everything he had!  
Sasuke grunted as he was forced to go defensive. His Sharingan worked overtime to foresee Naruto´s movements.  
The blonde boy stopped his attacks for only a moment, but it was all Sasuke needed.  
He immediately went back on the offensive by letting loose the exact same combo as Naruto had. Naruto managed to dodge the flurry of punches and kicks. He bared his fangs.

"My own moves won´t work against me! I´m so well versed in my own fighting style that I know how to perfectly block my own attacks!" Naruto exclaimed and threw a punch.

Sasuke grunted at this.

"What do you mean, idiot?" Sasuke replied and blocked Naruto´s punch.

Naruto half-grinned.

"I used to train by fighting with my own Shadow Replications! That way, I learned of all my weaknesses!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke grunted again and put more effort into his attacks.  
(_Hey kid! What are you doing? Why are you holding back? Kill him already!_) A deep rumbling voice suddenly went off inside of Naruto´s head. He frowned briefly and jumped back from Sasuke.  
(No. I won´t kill him. He´s my teammate. More importantly, he´s my friend. I can´t and won´t kill him!  
No matter what you say, Kyuubi!) Naruto sent back. The demon growled inside of his mind.  
(_Stop blabbering rubbish! Get serious and kill his ass! He isn´t your friend anymore! He betrayed you! He has become just another of your enemies! Just face it! That kid won´t come back! So get serious already and kill him!_) Kyuubi roared. Naruto frowned at this. One part of him wanted to believe the demon fox, while another part completely resented what Kyuubi had said. One of the downsides when using the Kyuubi´s Chakra at this level, was that the Kyuubi was allowed partly into his mind.  
This made holding back more difficult than usual. Naruto shook his head. (I won´t kill him, Kyuubi and that´s final!) Naruto stated. Kyuubi growled but didn´t say anything more. Sasuke made some quick hand seals while watching Naruto intensively. Naruto formed his favorite hand seal. The Shadow Replication hand seal. They both stared down each other. Things were going to get serious from here on.

* * *

There y'all have it! Chapter 2! Hope you all enjoyed it! Well then, on to chapter 3! 


	3. The heated battle!

Chapter 3: Heated battle!

Sasuke and Naruto stared into each other's eyes. Untill Sasuke decided to end the staring contest.

"Fire Element - Phoenix Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and let loose with a barrage of small but powerfull fireballs.

Naruto saw them coming and gathered some Chakra at his feet. They glowed orange. Naruto waited untill the very last second, then he jumped. The fireballs missed him completely.  
Naruto turned his attention back to Sasuke, eager to release his own Ninjutsu, only to find that the Uchiha wasn´t there anymore. He quickly looked around for his opponent. Unfortunately, his opponent found him first.  
Naruto felt a presence and turned around in the air, wich proved to be a big mistake. Sasuke came flying and brought his fist forward. It dug deep into Naruto´s stomach and the blonde boy coughed up some saliva.  
Sasuke jumped away from the boy and let him hit the ground. The Uchiha quickly ran up to Naruto, who was just getting up, and pulled back his arm. Naruto saw this and raised his arms to block. Sasuke grinned at this and blurred away.  
Naruto didn´t even have time to blink as Sasuke´s foot planted itself firmly into his jaw. Naruto was sent flying.  
He coughed up some blood. Sasuke went down on all fours and then he jumped after Naruto.  
He flew up behind the blonde boy and put his hand on his back. Sasuke then spun Naruto around so that he would meet his upcoming leg. Naruto managed to reach down with his elbow and block the kick. Sasuke grinned.  
The blonde was playing him right into his hand. Sasuke then spun and made a gesture as if he was going to kick the boy on the other side, while moving his left arm upwards. Naruto focused only on Sasuke´s leg and failed to notice the other boy´s fist untill it was too late. Sasuke´s fist hit Naruto right in the very center of his face.  
He was sent spiralling to the ground. Sasuke went after him and planted his right fist into his stomach, making the blonde cough up some more blood. Sasuke then spun around and lifted his left leg. Just as Naruto was to hit the ground, Sasuke planted his heel straight into his stomach. Naruto coughed up a big spurt of blood as the invading heel smashed into his stomach.

"Lion Combo!"

That finished the combo. Sasuke jumped away from Naruto after this. He waited patiently for the boy to get up.  
Naruto coughed. (Damn that hurt! That Sasuke bastard actually hit me with the whole Lion Combo! I can´t believe I let him do that! Well, time to pay him back!) Naruto thought. The Kyuubi Chakra that was currently flowing in his Chakra Circulatory system made him recover insanely quickly. Naruto got up and growled at Sasuke.  
The other boy was grinning madly at him. Naruto put his hands in a familliar pose.

"Mass Shadow Replication Technique!" Naruto yelled.

A large burst of smoke erupted from his body. When the smoke cleared, 230 Naruto´s were standing before the Uchiha. Sasuke chuckled.

"That won´t work against me and you know it. This technique is worthless against someone as powerfull as me." Sasuke stated.

"Heh! Never judge a book by it´s cover!" All of the Naruto´s chorused.

The replication team then jumped into the air and put out their arms. Then they all started spinning rapidly.

"Multiple Drilling Fang Attack!" All of the clones yelled.

The mass of clones charged at Sasuke. The blue haired boy jumped into the air and managed to avoid the first two clones.  
He spun in the air and managed to avoid four more clones.  
The clones that missed their target dug deep into the ground for a few seconds, then they resurfaced and made another attempt at hitting their enemy. Sasuke avoided all of the clones with ease. He avoided a few more attacks, then he decided to go on the offensive. Sasuke started kicking and punching whatever clone that came his way.  
Every clone he hit, dissolved into a puff of smoke. After hitting 200 clones, Sasuke started to lose his patience. (Where is that damned blockhead? He is one lucky weasel to have lasted this long against ME! Oh well.  
I will finish him off once and for all as soon as all his clones have been destroyed.) Sasuke thought. He sped up his actions and took out clone after clone. After destroying the 229th clone and thereby the last, Sasuke landed on the ground.  
He looked around for the real Naruto, but all he could see was a bunch of holes in the ground.  
Sasuke growled in irritation. (Does that blockhead really think he can fool me? It´s obvious that he´s hiding in one of these holes! And judging by the clones movements earlier...the holes should all be connected. That gives me an interesting idea...) Sasuke thought. He made some hand seals and jumped into the air.  
Sasuke turned to one of the holes and put one of his hands at his mouth.

"Fire Element - Phoenix Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled.

He sent one fireball into each hole. Then he landed on the ground. At first nothing happened. Then, a low rumbling announced that something was going on under the ground. Then, pillars of fire burst out from the holes!  
Sasuke grinned to himself. His plan was working perfectly. He looked around at the fire pillars. (It shouldn´t be long before that idiot shows up.) Sasuke thought. Then, an extra loud rumbling caught his attention.  
Sasuke turned to one hole in particular just in time to see cracks forming around it. The flames suddenly parted and revealed a big red ball. Sasuke frowned. (What the heck is THAT?) He wondered briefly. The red ball then dissolved, revealing nothing more than a lump of wood. Sasuke looked at it in question for a second, then his eyes widened in surprise.  
Two strong arms suddenly grabbed him from behind and pulled his own arms upwards. Sasuke turned around and scowled at the one he saw. Holding him in a secure grip, was Naruto!  
The blonde boy was growling at him, showing his current dislike for the other boy. Sasuke tried to snake himself out of Naruto´s grip but quickly found that he couldn´t. He yelled in frustration and turned to the boy.

"Let go of me right now, or you´re going to be sorry!" Sasuke growled.

Naruto however, didn´t. He simply tightened his grip on him. Sasuke´s brain analysed what Naruto had done and the solution came to him. It surprised him. (I get it now. When that blockhead used his Mass Shadow Replication and attacked me head on with the Mass Drilling Fang Attack, he dug into the ground and stayed there untill I had finished  
off all his clones. When all of his Chakra had returned to him, he formed a shield and waited for me to use my fire technique. When I did, he let the fire push him up to the surface and as soon as he was above the ground, he used the Replacement Technique in order to confuse me! And after that, he snuck behind me and grabbed me.  
All this...was all this really thought up by, by THAT blockhead? I don´t believe it! When did Naruto get this smart?) Sasuke thought. He growled loudly at Naruto again.

"You´re asking for it, Naruto! Prepare yourself!" Sasuke yelled.

Sasuke closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused hard, then his eyes snapped open. With a cry of rage, he released a massive burst of purple Chakra. This blew Naruto off him and sent him flying.  
Naruto managed to land on all fours though. Sasuke relaxed slightly and the flow of purple Chakra calmed down. He faced Naruto with a grin of satisfaction. Naruto let out a real fox growl at this. (Damn it! It didn´t work! I thought I really had him there! Damn! What do I do now?) Naruto wondered.

* * *

Hey! Hey! I'm sorry if I missed to comment the last chapter!Remember, I am still a newbie at this! Well, with that said, on to chapter 4! 


	4. I swear I will win!

Chapter 4: I swear I will WIN!

A low rumbling in his head announced that his source of unnatural power  
was on the move again.  
(_Do yourself a favor and KILL the punk! I´ve had enough of your "I won´t kill him" bullshit!  
Do it! Kill him! I know you want to! I want it too! KILL HIM!_) Kyuubi roared.  
Naruto shook his head again. (Didn´t you hear what I said earlier, Kyuubi?  
I won´t kill him and that´s final! So stop bothering me about that!) Naruto sent back.  
Kyuubi once again growled but went quiet.  
Sasuke suddenly blurred away. Naruto´s eyes widened and he quickly jumped back,  
narrowly avoiding Sasuke´s oncoming foot. He landed a few meters away.  
Sasuke stood up and grinned at him again.

"Watch it blondie. I almost had you there." Sasuke stated.

Naruto growled at first, but then he grinned.

"Heh! Don´t flatter yourself! The same trick won´t work on me twice!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke humphed at this and shrugged. He then slid into a battle stance.  
Naruto now focused on Sasuke.  
(I´ve got to knock him out! But how do I do it?) Naruto wondered.  
He pondered this intensively for a few dire seconds. Then, a solution appeared in his mind.  
His facial expression hardened as he faced Sasuke.  
(Ero-Sennin told me never to use this move against anyone I care about but...this is a special case!  
I have to use it! If I don´t, then I can´t defeat him!) Naruto thought.  
He planted his feet firmly into the ground and stared straight into Sasuke´s eyes.  
He concentrated hard and power started to build up inside of him. He yelled into the sky  
and red Chakra exploded around him! It burned strongly around him. Sasuke frowned at this.  
(What is the idiot thinking?) Sasuke wondered.  
Naruto put out his right hand before him and started gathering Chakra in it.  
Red Chakra took form in his palm and it started swirling around itself in a ball.  
It´s rotation speed and size increased as Naruto sent more Chakra into the ball.

"Sasuke! We´re both getting short on time here! Even though you´re not showing it,  
I know that you are starting to feel fatigue. Quite frankly, I am too!  
Fighting at this level uses massive amounts of Chakra! So let´s end this fight with the next move!  
One big attack to settle everything! The winner takes all!" Naruto declared.

Sasuke frowned even deeper at this. A second later he smiled.

"Alright then, Naruto...let´s end this!" Sasuke said.

Purple lightning started flying out of his left hand.  
A ball of glowing purple Chakra took form in his hand.  
It crackled and grew slightly in size. Sasuke grinned madly at Naruto.  
Naruto bared his fangs and growled at Sasuke. Their faces were illuminated by their  
respective Chakra.

"Alright, Sasuke! Let´s go!" Naruto yelled.

He brought his arm back and charged forward.

"Here I come!" Sasuke yelled.

He brought his arm back and zipped forward. The two teenagers charged forward,  
both were determined to end the fight with this move. They screamed as they neared each other.  
Then they brought their hands forward.

"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

Their attacks met, and a blinding flash followed. The two balls of Chakra pressed against each other,  
trying to overthrow the other. Naruto and Sasuke had their teeth clenched.  
They were both pressing their hands against each other. Sasuke closed one of his eyes and pressed on harder  
and so did Naruto. Sparks flew and bits of Chakra rained down around them.  
Naruto sent all the Chakra he could into the Rasengan. He was determined to win this one.  
(I swear...I will...WIN! We´ve all worked so hard to get Sasuke back! To get him to understand!  
Everyone has worked for one goal! I can´t lose now! I...will...WIN!) Naruto thought.  
Naruto and Sasuke screamed loudly into the sky.

* * *

(Chouji...) 

The now skinny boy was still lying against the tree. He had no body fat left whatsoever.  
He had taken the red Akimichi food pill. The pill burns away all the users' body fat and turns it into pure Chakra,  
giving him immense power. With a terrible prize though. The user dies only minutes after taking the pill.  
Chouji sat unmoving against the tree. Then suddenly, he twitched. He took a shaky breath and gripped  
his forehead protector more firmly. He was still alive. And it proved only one thing. It proved who he was.  
He was Akimichi Chouji. The Akimichi family´s genius. Chouji managed one single thought.  
(Everyone...try hard for me...okay?) Then he slipped back into the darkness.

* * *

(Neji...) 

The skilled Genin was lying on his back on the ground. He was wounded and his Chakra had been  
reduced to zero. Neji rolled his head to the side and saw his opponent lying a distance away.  
The Sound Jounin was dead. Killed by his own hand. Hyuuga Neji, born genius, had defeated a Jounin.  
He had proved himself. Neji felt himself slipping back into the darkness. The holes in his side and shoulder  
were making themselves known. (Father...I did it...I beat him...I proved myself...Everyone...  
prove yourselves as I did...especially you...Naruto.) Neji thought. Then he fainted.

* * *

(Kiba...) 

The oldest son in the Inuzuka Clan was lying on the ground, completely worn out.  
Kiba was barely aware as he looked at his dog who was lying by his side.  
Akamaru had fainted a long time ago. But not before helping Kiba deal some good damage  
to the Sound Jounin. After that, Kankuro came and killed the Jounin with his two puppets, Karasu and Kuroari.  
Kiba smiled slightly to himself. (Heh... Even after all that, we still couldn't beat that Sound bastard...!  
Ah well, I guess I shouldn't complain. We did a pretty good job, me and Akamaru. Those damned  
Sound brothers just did a better one. Not to mention that Kankuro guy. Man, what a mess...  
Well, I guess I´m going to have to thank that Sand bastard later.  
Everyone...beat the others, alright? Beat the other Sound bastards you guys...you can do it...) Kiba thought.  
He wasn´t sure how bad his wounds really were. But he couldn´t do anything about it, so he simply ignored that fact.  
Then just as Kankuro finished cleaning out and putting his puppets back on his back in their bindings,  
Kiba slipped into the darkness.

* * *

(Shikamaru...) 

The laziest man in the whole Nara Clan was sprawled on the ground. He was injured, but still very alive.  
His injury wasn´t even remotely close to being deadly, or dangerous for that matter.  
The only reason he was on the ground, was that he was almost completely out of Chakra.  
Shikamaru smiled grimly to himself.  
(Well, that went pretty good, in my opinion. I managed to escape with nothing but a broken finger.  
Man, that Sand chick sure is scary. She's definately scarier than my mom! And she strong too, wickedly strong!  
Aaah...! Women are so troublesome!) He thought.  
Shikamaru looked to the left and smiled. Temari finished dusting herself off and slung her fan up on her shoulder.  
Shikamaru closed his eyes and looked up at the clouds. (Women ARE troublesome... But, heh, I guess I  
really have to thank her, this time around... Chouji...come back alive, allright? Neji...Kiba...Naruto...  
you guys beat the other Sound Jounin´s and come back too, okay? I'm waiting for all of you guys!  
Especially you, Chouji.) Shikamaru thought. Temari turned around and walked up to the lazy genius.  
She raised an eyebrow at his expression before turning away.

"Come on now, genius boy. We need to get back to your village." Temari stated.

"Yeah, yeah..." Shikamaru mumbled and stood up.

He followed the Sand girl.

* * *

(Thick Brows...)

Konoha´s Beautiful Green Beast lay on the ground in a heap.  
Every muscle in his body ached. That didn´t stop him from smiling though. Lee winched slightly.  
His body hurt, it really did. He had numerous wounds. Some bigger than others.  
Lee had very little experience with how to treat wounds, so he didn´t know if his were serious or not.  
(I won...with some help though. But I did Gai-sensei proud by doing it almost by myself!  
Oh well...good luck everyone...) Lee thought.  
Gaara stood up and shouldered his gourd. He raised an invisible eyebrow at Lee's smile, but chose not to comment.  
As always.

"Come on. We need to get you back to Konoha." Gaara stated flatly.

Lee got up with a pained grunt and started to slowly follow the Sand ninja.

* * *

(Everyone...wherever you are...please watch me...  
watch me beat him...For everyone...I swear I will...WIN!) Naruto thought.  
Naruto growled and pressed on harder. Sasuke did as well.  
Both opened their eyes and gave their all in one last mighty push.  
For a moment, their joined hands glowed as white as the sun and  
hid them from view. Then the balls of Chakra broke apart and  
resulted in a HUGE explosion!  
The ground shook and the expanding energy dome wiped out everything in a very wide radius.  
The explosion eventually died down. A tall pillar of thick smoke rose towards the skies.

* * *

Hey, hey, hey! I decided to make a small comeback and change this chapter a bit. I realised that some of the information in it  
were pretty inaccurate, so I changed it. I will try to get my other stories up to par as well, just so that you know.  
Well, see ya! 


	5. Finding love!

Chapter 5: Finding love!

Everything was dead quiet for several minutes. The smoke eventually dispersed, and the result of the great ninja battle was revealed. Lying inside a broken tree, was Naruto. One of his legs was sticking out of the trunk.  
It twitched briefly, then it slid into the trunk. It wasn´t untill a full minute later that Naruto emerged from the broken tree.  
The blonde teenager was panting hard, and for a good reason. Most of his orange jacket had been blown away.  
His black undershirt had several rips in it. His pants had been reduced to little more than shreds. Naruto was bleeding from several parts of his body. His right arm was hurting rather badly. As was the rest of his body.  
He had cuts and bruises everywhere. Naruto coughed up a few drops of blood. He used whatever energy he had left to pull himself out of the tree. He landed with a thud on the ground. Naruto winched but didn´t say anything.  
He opened his eyes and looked around. He didn´t see Sasuke anywhere. (Damn...it...! That was...one...big...blast...! My Chakra...has been...reduced...to zero!) Naruto thought. He used the tree beside him as support and tried to stand up. He got up halfway, then his legs wobbled and he fell down again. His legs felt like spaghetti.

"Damn! I don´t even have enough...energy to...stand up anymore! And...Sasuke is...nowhere in sight...damn this smoke!" Naruto cursed.

The smoke had faded somewhat, but not enough to see what was in front of you clearly. He sighed and laid back against the broken tree. He blinked lazily. His thoughts were a mess. Kyuubi´s Chakra had left him completely. His vision was slowly blurring. Naruto knew he was fainting, but he didn´t care. Naruto´s eyelids slowly closed and he slipped into the darkness. How much time that went by, he didn´t know.

(_Hey? C...ou...hear me?...ruto! Please...ake up! Oh please don´t...e dead_!) (Hmm? Who...who is it? I can´t...hear too well...) (_Naruto!...ake up! Don´t...eave me_!..._If you...eave me then...uldn´t know...at to do...!_) (Someone´s calling...who...who is it?) (_You can´t be...ead!...ease! It´s me...kura!_) (Kura? Who...is that? Wait...not kura...Sakura! It´s...it´s Sakura-chan!)

Naruto´s eyes opened. He blinked. All he could see was a blur of colours. He saw a mix of pink, green, and red.  
Slowly, but surely, the colours took form. Naruto blinked again. Lying with her head on his chest, was Sakura!  
Sakura was sobbing into his chest. That much he could register.

"Don´t leave me Naruto! If...if you died then...then I´ll...!" Sakura had trouble getting out the words right.

Naruto tried to lift his arm but his limb refused to move. He tried to move his mouth and found that it worked.

"Sakura...chan?" It was barely a whisper.

But it did the job. Sakura stopped talking to herself and lifted her head. Her cheeks were stained with tears and from the looks of things, more were on their way. She saw that Naruto´s eyes were open.  
Naruto blinked once, and Sakura´s eyes widened. She flung herself at Naruto and slung her arms around his neck.  
Naruto winched slightly in pain at this, but didn´t comment on it. Sakura sobbed into his shoulder.

"Naruto! You´re alive! Thank god! For a minute I thought, I thought...Naruto!" Sakura said all this in less than five seconds.

It was clear that she had been panicking just seconds before. Naruto was perplexed. He had never seen Sakura do something like this before. Not when it concerned him. She was always hugging Sasuke and asking him how he was doing a zillion times over and over. Not him. Did Sakura care about him that much?

"Sakura-chan? W, what are you doing here? You´re...supposed to be...in Konoha..." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled widely.

"With you out here fighting for your life? Not a chance, Naruto! There is no chance in the world that I would just sit at home and roll my thumbs while you are out here fighting!" Sakura said.

She wiped her cheeks and eyes and laughed slightly. Naruto blinked. He was even more confused now. Naruto could feel his strenght slowly, slowly returning to him. He tried to move his arms and this time it worked.  
He put his arms around Sakura and he managed a ghost of a hug. Sakura was breathing somewhat more normal now. She had managed to calm down a bit.

"Naruto. I´m so glad that you´re okay! Well, not _okay_ but, the next best thing right? If, if you had...you know. Then, then I...I wouldn´t know what to do. You haven´t been in my life for that long, but I can´t even imagine how my life would be without you Naruto. Maybe in the old days, but not now. No, definately not. I care for you too much for that." Sakura said.

Naruto´s brain started to work overtime in analysing what the young woman before him was saying.

"Sakura-chan...do you...like me?" Naruto breathed out.

Sakura´s cheeks turned red as she tried to find something fitting to say. She should be prepared by now. But it sure didn´t feel like it. As she was searching for something to say, her mind brought up a fresh memory.

"Flashback"

"Sakura-san?" A bobbed haired boy asked.

The pink haired ninja turned to him with a gentle smile. They were standing on the same bridge where she had given him flowers.

"What is it, Lee-san?" Sakura asked.

Lee looked out over the water and seemed to think about something before continuing.

"Just out of pure curiousity. How do you feel about Sasuke?" Lee asked.

Sakura was taken aback by his question. She recovered quickly though and smiled slightly.

"Sasuke-kun is the most handsome guy in the whole village! He always get top marks at whatever he does. He´s kinda mysterious too. And...I don´t know. He´s just my type of guy, I guess." Sakura answered.

Lee nodded slowly to himself. Sakura noticed the serious look on his face and couldn´t help but wonder what was going on in his head. Lee then turned to her and said:

"I see. Then...what about Naruto-kun?" Lee said.

Sakura was again taken aback by Lee´s question. She opened her mouth to answer, but something stopped her. She found herself actually thinking about it. It was strange. When Lee asked her how she felt for Sasuke, the answer came to her like the flash of lightning. But when he asked her how she felt about Naruto, it wasn´t that easy.  
She actually had to think about it. Sakura looked out over the water. She sank into deep thought. Lee saw this and waited for her to sort out her thoughts. After a full minute, Sakura finally turned back to Lee. The martial artist faced her as well. Sakura slowly smiled. As she began talking, she got a faraway look on her face.

"Naruto is my teammate. More importantly, he´s my friend. He´s not the brightest of the bunch and he can be quite annoying. I always scold him about...well, many things. But no matter how much I scold him, he never says anything mean back. Naruto is almost always smiling and he has a really positive attitude. He´s always asking me how I´m doing and if I´m feeling okay. Whenever I´m down, I can always count on Naruto to come and try to cheer me up. Even though he looks like a child on the outside, deep down, he´s an honorable man who makes a lot of mistakes. And grows stronger from it! To sum it all up, he´s a really sweet guy." Sakura said.

After Sakura had finished, Lee turned away and smiled. He chuckled softly.  
Sakura snapped out of her state of trance and blushed after she realised what she had said. She opened her mouth to say that she didn´t mean everything she said. But her mouth remained closed.  
Something about what she had said earlier rang a bell deep within her. If her words were wrong, then why did they sound so true in her heart? Sakura blushed hard.

"I see. Sakura-san, listen. You don´t really _like_ Sasuke, do you? You _like_ Naruto-kun." Lee said.

Sakura blushed crimson and turned away from him. She tried to say something but all she managed to do was stutter. Lee smiled at this. He had struck gold. Sakura put her hand on her heart.  
She could feel it beating clearly against her hand. Sakura´s feelings were a mess at the moment. (Ok, ok, ok. Slooow down, girl! Take it easy!) Sakura thought. She repeated this in her head like a mantra over and over again. She took a deep breath. (Okay, let´s see now. So I don´t like Sasuke anymore.  
Somehow...Naruto has managed to sneak in and steal my heart. I don´t know how or when it happened but...when he gets back, I´m going to sort out everything.) Sakura thought. Her eyes widened in surprise at herself. She hadn´t thought "Sasuke-kun"! She had only thought "Sasuke"! Sakura looked down into the railing and tried to calm herself.  
Her hot cheeks just wouldn´t cool down.

"Sakura-san. Naruto-kun is out by the border fighting in order to retrieve Sasuke. Naruto-kun is strong enough to beat Sasuke and the others are strong enough to beat the Sound Jounins. I am completely sure of that. _However_..." Lee trailed off.

Sakura´s blush faded and she turned to face Lee again. The Taijutsu expert had a very serious look on his face as he turned to Sakura.

"However?" Sakura repeated.

Her voice quivered slightly and a wave of worry went through her. Sakura was surprised at herself. She had never felt like this before. It was as if she wanted to protect Naruto from everything harmfull. She somehow knew that he would do the same for her. Sakura was immensively surprised at her own emotions.

"Even if the others are successfull in defeating the Sound Jounins and Naruto-kun manage to defeat Sasuke, then there´s still a good chance that Orochimaru or someone else of his henchmen comes and abducts Sasuke. Naruto-kun and Sasuke will fight each other. This won´t be a match to determine their strength. This will be...a _deathmatch_." Lee said seriously.

Sakura´s eyes widened. She felt as if she had swallowed a huge ice cube. Her blood turned ice cold. Sakura managed to get herself together thought.

"Sasuke and Naruto would NEVER fight to _kill_ each other! They wouldn´t!" Sakura almost yelled.

Lee looked at her and sighed. He shook his head.

"In the old days, they wouldn´t. But things are different now, Sakura-san. _They_ are different now. This time, the winner will be the only one breathing!" Lee exclaimed.

Sakura felt tears whell up in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. No more. She wasn´t going to cry anymore. She was done crying. Sakura set her jaw straight and looked at Lee.

"...I´m going." Lee raised an eyebrow in question.

"Where?" Lee asked.

Sakura frowned with her eyes shining with determination.

"I´m going to the border. I don´t know if I will be able to do much, but I just can´t leave him all alone. Besides, they won´t listen to anybody but me. I am going, Lee-san. And you can´t stop me." Sakura stated.

"Who said I was going to stop you?" Lee was smiling and so was Sakura.

Lee raised the arm he wasn´t using to hold his supporter and waved. Sakura smiled and waved too. Then she spun around and ran away from the bridge. She had only one thought in her head. Find Naruto. Sakura didn´t see Lee drop his supporter and running in the same direction as her. He just took another way.

"End Flashback"

Sakura finally made up her mind. She turned back to the blonde boy before her with a smile.

"No. I don´t _like_ you." Sakura said, still smiling widely.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in question at this.

"...what?" Naruto managed to get out.

"I said I don´t _like_ you." Sakura went in close with her mouth at his ear.

"I love you."

Naruto didn´t believe it. He had heard it with his own ears but he still didn´t believe it. Sakura, the girl of his dreams, the one he had loved ever since they were small, actually loved him back!

"You...love me?" Naruto stuttered.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"I think I finally understand. I mistakenly believed that my old school crush on Sasuke was love. In reality, it was just a crush. A crush I couldn´t get over. Everything else than Sasuke became all foggy and prevented me from seeing all the other people around me. But the veil has been lifted. I can see everything clearly now." Sakura said.

Naruto was speechless. He looked deeply into Sakura´s green orbs and saw nothing else than warmth, trust, and love. A strong feeling of happiness spread through his body. Naruto was so overcome with happiness that he grabbed Sakura and pulled her to him. His lips crashed down upon hers in a fierce kiss.  
Sakura was shocked at first, but she recovered in no time and kissed him back. Naruto suddenly felt a searing pain in his side and had to break the kiss. He grit his teeth and grabbed his chest in pain. Sakura immediately went from being happy and content to extremely worried.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I think some of my ribs are broken. Damn...! That last blast sure took it´s toll on me." Naruto exclaimed.

"Come on, Naruto. Let´s get you out of here!" Sakura said.

Then she remembered something rather important.

"Sasuke! Where´s Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

The pink haired ninja couldn´t believe that she had almost forgotten about her friend. Naruto shook his head and shrugged.

"I don´t know. After we both gave our all in the last attack, we were thrown in opposite directions. Sasuke should be somewhere in _that_ direction." Naruto said.

He pointed straight ahead of him. Sakura nodded and put one of his arms around her neck. With Sakura´s help, Naruto managed to stand up. They slowly traveled forward in the direction Naruto had pointed earlier.

* * *

I'm SO, SO sorry everyone! I missed to comment the last chapter, AGAIN! I promise to try harder! Well, anyway... I hope you liked this chapter. It's a nice break from all the fighting, don't you think? Well then, on to chapter 6! 


	6. What the? ANOTHER obstacle?

Chapter 6: What the? ANOTHER obstacle?

They walked for about a minute. Naruto squinted his eyes slightly, then he stopped walking. Sakura turned to him in question. Naruto pointed ahead of him. Lying against a rock, was none other Uchiha Sasuke.  
Sakura put her hand over her mouth. She stared wide-eyed at the raven haired boy before them. Sasuke´s clothes were ripped and he had numerous cuts and wounds all over his body.  
His left arm and right leg were twisted in odd directions. It didn´t take a genius to figure out that they were broken. Naruto´s blue eyes scanned the dark haired boy some more. He sighed in relief. The Cursed Seal had retreated into the small mark on Sasuke´s neck. His hair was coal black once again.

"Sasuke...!" Sakura managed to stutter.

Even though she had gotten over her crush for him, she still cared immensively for him. Naruto put his hand on her forehead and smiled sadly at her. Sakura wondered what he was trying to say.

"Look, Sakura-chan...I didn´t want to resort to this, but I had no other choice. I had to knock him out. I´m sorry for hurting Sasuke, but I really had no other choice. I´m sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

Sakura looked back at Sasuke. She blinked, then she smiled dryly.

"I understand." Sakura managed to get out.

Naruto limped up to Sasuke and bent down. He grabbed the boy and with a grunt of effort, threw him over his shoulder. Naruto didn´t really have anymore strength to give, but he was determined to bring Sasuke back to the village. Even if he would have to carry him all the way there.

"Naruto, take it easy. You´re all worn out. Here, let me help you with Sasuke." Sakura said.

Naruto smiled softly and shook his head at this.

"I´m a man of my word, Sakura-chan. I promised you that I would get him back for you, and that´s what I´m gonna do!" Naruto said.

Sakura smiled and nodded. She remained ready to help him at anytime as they began walking though.

A pack of birds flew away from the branch they had been sitting on in a collective rush. The object wich had caused this rush, landed on that very branch a second later. The brown haired young woman looked around.  
She couldn´t see or hear anyone. She sighed. (This is turning into a pretty ugly mess. Well, I´ve been in ugly situations before and I have always managed to pull through. With the help of Tsunade-sama of course. Sasuke-kun...why did you have to leave? Damn that Orochimaru! This is all his fault! Alright Shizune, calm down. Being mad at this point isn´t going to change anything. Not for the better that is. At least Genma and the others will be safe back in Konoha. Tsunade-sama will cure those nasty injuries in no time. Well, I´ll better get going! Naruto-kun and the others will surely need my help!)  
The woman thought. Shizune then blurred away. She continued forward at top speed while following the few traces left behind by either the Sound ninjas or Shikamaru´s team.

Naruto took a few staggering steps, then he fell to his knees. Sakura gasped and kneeled beside him.

"Naruto! Are you allright? Naruto!" Sakura asked.

Naruto panted and beads of sweat covered his face. He let go off Sasuke and fell against a tree.

"Yeah...it´s just that...my Chakra got reduced to...zero...in the fight, so...I´m a little short on energy right now." Naruto said.

Sakura looked at him with worry etched all over her face.

"You´ve done more than enough already, Naruto. You´ve carried Sasuke-kun two kilometers already. The village is too far away for you to carry him. We´ll rest here for a while, then I will carry Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, determined.

Naruto smiled slightly at her. He knew that it was useless to argue with Sakura once she had made up her mind.

"Hey, Sakura-chan? Do you think it´s safe to take a nap for a few minutes? It would really help me recover my Chakra." Naruto said.

Sakura smiled warmly at him and nodded.

"Go ahead. I´ll stand guard just in case." Sakura said.

Naruto nodded, then he slipped off. Sakura reached over and gently pulled Sasuke over to the tree before her and sat him up. Then she turned around and spread her legs out on the ground. (This reminds me of the Chuunin Exam. It´s the exact same thing. Except for a few things. Like Sasuke-kun not having a fever, and Naruto isn´t knocked out.  
Well, knocked out is the same thing as asleep right? Heh, well whatever. It doesn´t matter. What matters is that we will go back to Konoha with Sasuke-kun. Then we will make him understand, all of us.) Sakura thought. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a loud snore. Sakura turned and smiled. Naruto was already sleeping like a baby. Sakura smiled at him, then she turned to the sky.

A purple clad ninja swooshed through the forest. His coal black eyes darted from side to side. He was looking for something. Something rather important. (If I don´t find and bring him back with me, then _he_ won´t be forgiving!) The ninja thought. He sped up his pace and hurried onward.

Sakura jumped as the snapping of a twig broke the silence. Sakura immediately pulled out a kunai and stood up. It had only passed 7 minutes. Her apple-coloured eyes darted from side to side quickly.  
Another twig snapped, this time closer. Sakura started sweating. How many were there? Three? Five? Or was it seven even? Sakura didn´t know. She backed a little bit.

"Naruto! Naruto, wake up!" Sakura hissed through clenched teeth.

Konoha´s Loudest and most Surprising Number One Ninja twitched. Naruto opened his eyes and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto muttered.

Then his eyes snapped wide open. He remembered everything that had happened so far and all their battles.  
Naruto then saw the kunai in Sakura´s hand. He quickly concluded that something was wrong. His suspicions were confirmed, when something rustled the leaves above them. Naruto stood up quickly, his head darting from side to side.

"Naruto! Get ready! There´s someone here!" Sakura hissed.

Naruto nodded and whipped up two kunai´s, one in each hand. He stepped up beside Sakura and gave her a small smile.

"Don´t worry, Sakura-chan. Whoever it is, I´ll be sure to kick his or her butt!" Naruto said with the usuall cocky grin.

"Don´t use Shadow Replication, Naruto. Your Chakra is low as it is!" Sakura wisphered.

Naruto nodded back at her. He knew that already. Naruto felt that his Chakra had recovered somewhat with his short rest, but it wasn´t nearly enough to support his usuall amount of Shadow Replication! Naruto´s blue eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot their enemy.

Then, their enemy decided to make himself known. The leaves above them parted and a ninja fell through. He landed softly before them. His silver coloured hair was tied back in a ponytail. His round glasses gleamed in the sunlight. The ninja´s purple outfit somehow fit quite nicely with the whole picture. Naruto´s eyes widened in shock and so did Sakura´s.

"Kabuto-san!" They both yelled at once.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and smiled evily. He raised his head and looked at them. His eyes traveled to the knocked out boy lying behind the two Konoha ninjas. Kabuto frowned slightly.  
(So Sasuke-kun was really beaten, even though his Cursed Seal was enhanced to Level 2. Heh, it must have been Naruto-kun. With the Kyuubi in his stomach, he´s the only one who could have done it.) Kabuto thought.  
Naruto´s shocked expression turned to anger. He took a quick breath before pointing at the Sound spy.

"How dare you show yourself to me, after all you´ve done! Isn´t being a Sound spy enough already?" Naruto yelled.

Sakura stared at Kabuto´s forehead protector. (I can´t believe it! K, Kabuto-san i, is a...a Sound ninja! He, he betrayed Konoha? T, that´s insane!) Sakura thought. A cold chill ran down her spine as she turned. (If we don´t bring Sasuke-kun back to Konoha and make him understand, then he might betray Konoha too! All because of that damned Orochimaru!) Sakura thought. The raven haired Uchiha lay motionless against the tree.  
Kabuto took a step forward. This earned him the full attention of the Konoha ninjas.

"Ah, Naruto-kun and Sakura-san. It´s been a long time." Kabuto said.

He smiled evily at them.

"Not long enough, apparently!" Naruto spat.

Sakura took a step forward.

"K, Kabuto-san? Are you really a Sound spy? Did you really betray Konoha?" Sakura asked.

The facts were all pointing in that direction, but she had to hear it from Kabuto himself.

"I betrayed Konoha a long time ago." Kabuto stated.

The evil grin disappeared for a split second as he said this. Then it returned full force. Naruto growled and raised his weapons. Now it was time to fight.

"What do you want with us, you damn traitor!" Naruto yelled.

"I was ordered by Orochimaru-sama to bring Sasuke-kun to him, since everyone else we sent out failed. So either you two move out of the way, or I _force_ myself past you." Kabuto said.

He whipped out a kunai from out of nowhere and sunk down into a fighting stance. Naruto took a step back in preparation.

"Bring Sasuke to Orochimaru? Over my dead body!" Naruto yelled.

In a flash, Kabuto zipped forward and smashed his fist into Naruto´s chest! The blonde Genin coughed up saliva and flew back. He crashed into the tree next to Sasuke. Kabuto grinned and turned to Sakura.

"Sakura-san, you´re a smart girl right? Put that thing away and move out of my way. Unless you want to end up worse than Sasuke-kun." Kabuto said coldly.

Sakura clenched her teeth and remained where she was. She wasn´t a strong ninja, but she wasn´t one to be messed with.

"Kabuto-san! I won´t let you take Sasuke!" Sakura said.

Kabuto sighed and shook his head.

"I really thought that you were a smart girl, Sakura-san. Well, guess I was wrong." Kabuto said and pushed up his glasses.

He zipped forward and pulled back his fist. Sakura didn´t have time to react as Kabuto moved faster than she could follow.

"SHADOW REPLICATION TECHNIQUE!"

Kabuto´s fist froze a mere inch from Sakura´s face. They both turned their heads and saw Naruto standing up again. Said Genin looked over at his two identical twins and roared.

"CHARGE!" He yelled.

The three Naruto´s then zipped forward. Kabuto humphed and leapt away from Sakura to meet them head on. The pink haired ninja ran after him.

"Naruto! I thought I told you NOT to use the Shadow Replication!" Sakura yelled, knowing full well that no one would hear her.

One of the Naruto´s leapt at Kabuto and pulled back a fist. Kabuto jerked his kunai upwards and into orange fabric. The blonde boy turned into smoke and disappeared. Just as Kabuto lowered his gaze from the sky and looked around for his other opponents, a smaller hand came up and grabbed his own. Kabuto´s eyes widened.  
Naruto stood before him, holding the hand with the kunai in it firmly. His clone stood beside him. Naruto grinned almost sadistically at him. He stuck out his hand to the side and his clone immediately started moving it´s hands rapidly over it.  
A spinning blue ball of Chakra formed in Naruto´s palm. Without the Kyuubi Chakra to aid him, Naruto had to use one of his Shadow Replications to perform the attack. Kabuto stared at it as if bewitched. (It´s just the same as before! The same position and the same technique! This is bad! I can´t let myself get hit by that, or else...) Kabuto thought.  
Naruto´s clone turned into smoke as the Chakra ball was completed. The real Naruto grinned at Kabuto in much the same way as the Sound ninja had done earlier. Naruto pulled back his right arm.

"Take this! RASENGAN!" Naruto cried.

He brought the Chakra ball forward with all the force he could muster! Sakura stopped running and stared.

"What the? That technique...! It´s the one Naruto used when we were helping Idate!" Sakura exclaimed.

Kabuto stared at the oncoming ball in fear for a second, then the sadistic grin returned. Kabuto pulled his captive arm backwards while using his free arm to knock Naruto´s hand away from it. Then he jumped into the air and delivered a swift spinning kick. Naruto was hit full force in the chin and he flew back. His Rasengan fell out of his hand and promptly dissolved. Naruto slid along the ground and came to a full stop after a few meters. Kabuto grinned at him.

"That was a pretty good try, Naruto-kun. But I´m afraid that the same trick won´t work on me twice! You´re going to have to be more creative than that to beat me this time around!" Kabuto said.

Naruto opened his eyes and glared at the Sound ninja.

* * *

This time, I remembered! Good for me! Ahem! Well! That was a good chapter, don't you think? Let's get on with the next one! 


	7. The will of fire!

Chapter 7: The will of fire!

Naruto coughed up a minimum amount of blood before fighting his way back onto his feet. He staggered back and forth while trying to keep his balance. The wounds he got from Sasuke were starting to make themselves known. Plus, creating 3 Shadow Replications and assembling a full blown Rasengan so shortly after fighting Sasuke, had exhausted his Chakra again. Kabuto put his hands together and started making some rapid hand seals. Tiger. Ram. Serpent. Tiger. Serpent. Dragon.

"Iron Ninjutsu!" Kabuto called out.

Kabuto´s hands were surronded in Chakra as he made the last hand seal. Naruto´s eyes widened. He recognised this technique. (That´s the nerve-destroying technique Kabuto-san used against me before!) Naruto thought. Naruto brought his hands together in the classic Chakra position. He staggered back and forth a little more before steadying himself somewhat. He shut his eyes tightly and reached deep within himself. (Wake up! You damned fox! Lend me your power!) Naruto growled.  
Orange Chakra immediately exploded around his body! Naruto screamed loudly as his Chakra was partly restored. Sakura´s eyes grew wider than ever before and her mouth hung open!

"I, incredible! I can see his Chakra clearly with my eyes! Wait, this orange Chakra...it´s the same as the one he used in the Chuunin Exam! But, what is this...strange Chakra? A Bloodline Limit Ability? No, it can´t be. Naruto doesn´t have a special bloodline. Then, what is it?" Sakura exclaimed.

She stared at the blonde boy she had come to love. Sakura pushed all questions to the back of her head and focused on the oncoming battle. Naruto looked at Kabuto with crystal clear blue eyes.

"You´d better get ready!" Naruto growled. Then he disappeared! Kabuto smirked.

He then jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding being sucker-punched by the young ninja. The blonde Genin gave a battle cry before charging the Sound spy. The ground broke under his feet due to the large amount of Chakra he was expelling. Kabuto sidestepped and tripped Naruto. He then quickly spun around and slammed his palm into his back.  
Naruto coughed up some blood before crashing down face-first into the ground. The orange Chakra dissipated around his body and his strength left him. Kabuto´s hands stopped glowing. He snickered silently. Sakura swallowed hard.  
Naruto had been defeated so quickly and effortlessly! How could she stand up to an enemy _that_ strong? Sakura shakingly brought her kunai up to her chest. (I will do this! I will protect those two! I will...-) Sakura´s train of thoughts were interrupted when something caught her eye. A second later, she screamed. Her scream was enough to make Naruto struggle to his knees. Him and Kabuto both turned in the direction Sakura was staring in.  
They both gasped. Standing up on his own now, was the very person that Naruto and the other Genin had risked their lives to retrieve. A stream of purple Chakra pulsated steadily around the raven haired boy.

"S, Sasuke!" Naruto stammered.

Sasuke opened his eyes. His Sharingan eyes immediately set themselves on one of them. The Cursed Seal markings spread out and covered his entire body. The Cursed Seal had healed his broken bones, but not much more. He zipped forward and delivered a full-force kick. Naruto left the ground due to the force of Sasuke´s kick. When he was in midair, Sasuke flew forward and grabbed Naruto´s neck. He then slammed the blonde boy into a nearby tree with all the force he could muster! Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto´s neck. Sakura screamed in terror as Naruto coughed up a big spurt of blood. Kabuto smirked.

"Awake at last, huh? I hate to say it, but you sure took your time!" Kabuto chuckled.

Sasuke didn´t even bother to look at him. His crimson eyes burned right through the blonde boy before him. Naruto´s eyes snapped open and he gave Sasuke a real glare. The Uchiha boy growled and tightened his grip on his neck. Naruto gasped as his struggle for air got even harder.

"Sasuke! You bastard! What the fuck are you doing?" Naruto said.

"You really thought that you were going to get away with it, didn´t you? You really thought that I would allow you to kick me unconscious and let it slide, didn´t you? Well, let me just tell you that...I don´t take being humiliated very well...!" Sasuke said and smashed his fist into Naruto´s stomach.

Naruto let out a pained gasp but otherwise, didn´t do anything. The clattering sound of a kunai hitting the ground was heard. Sakura sunk down to her knees. She was shaking in absolute fear. Kabuto walked near Sasuke with a smirk on his face.

"Well now. If you´re finished, let´s hurry on back. Orochimaru-sama has been VERY patient." Kabuto exclaimed.

Sasuke still didn´t look at him. It was as if he didn´t even know he was there. Kabuto frowned. He didn´t like the fact that Sasuke wasn´t responding.

"Humph!" Sasuke muttered.

He gripped Naruto´s neck harder, then he threw him on the ground. Naruto let out a pained gasp before trying to refill his air supply. Sasuke finally turned to face Kabuto. He walked up to and past the Sound ninja.

"Are you finished?" Kabuto asked.

"Yeah..." Sasuke muttered.

Kabuto nodded and stepped up to Sasuke. Then they both started walking towards the trees. Untill-

"Don´t...run...away...!" Sasuke stopped walking and turned around.

Naruto was standing up again, but just barely. Sasuke sneered at him.

"Get lost, dropout boy! You´re not even worth spitting on!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Then he started walking again. However, he didn´t get far before-

"STOP!"

Sasuke´s eyes widened and he froze in his tracks. Sakura was standing before him and Kabuto. Her eyes were wet with tears yet to be shed. But her apple-green eyes were burning with a flame of determination! Sasuke took an involuntary step back, his eyes were wide. Sasuke hadn´t even noticed that she was there at all!

"S, Sakura...!" Sasuke stuttered.

He went from being angry and vulgar, to being shocked and speechless. Kabuto looked at Sasuke and frowned. (Hmm...Sakura-san seems to have a pretty big place in this young boy´s heart. I´m sure that Naruto-kun has his reserved place somewhere in there too. This could get very troublesome indeed.) Kabuto thought.

"Sasuke-kun! I won´t let you go to Orochimaru! No way!" Sakura stated.

Her whole figure shone with determination. Sasuke stared at her in shock for a few moments, then his anger returned.

"What...in...the...HELL...do you...think you´re...DOING? Don´t you see? Orochimaru will give me the power I need to kill my brother! There´s no way in hell that I will give this power up! So MOVE!" Sasuke roared.

Sakura didn´t move. She stood rooted to the spot.

"Sasuke-kun...are you really ready to...to give up...EVERYTHING...in order to gain the neccessary power, to kill your brother? Is it really that bad?" Sakura asked.

"I don´t like repeating myself!" Sasuke growled.

Purple Chakra was starting to leak out from him at this point. But Sakura stood her ground.

"Sasuke-kun...are you ready to give up...our...frienship? Are you ready to break all bonds to all of the people in Konoha?" Sakura again asked.

"Sakura...! I am WARNING you!" Sasuke said and growled dangerously.

"That´s wrong! You´re not like that, Sasuke-kun! You´re not...you´re not like _this_! This isn´t _you_! The real Sasuke would never even CONSIDER taking an offer like this! You´re not...you´re not Uchiha Sasuke! You are merely the person that Orochimaru gave birth to by giving you that damned Cursed Seal!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke let out a loud angry roar! He had had quite enough of her! Sasuke was just going to charge her, when a heart-piercing scream stopped him.

"YYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Sasuke spun on his heel, and what he saw, made his heart stop for a moment. Naruto was standing with his hands together in the classic Chakra position, with an inferno of burning blue Chakra surronding his body! Kabuto dropped his jaw at the sight, and Sasuke wasn´t really sure how to react. Sakura´s eyes nearly bugged out of her head!  
This was just too much for her to handle! Naruto STILL had Chakra left? And THAT much? Naruto growled loudly at Sasuke. He took a step forward and the ground broke under his foot.

"You will NOT lay a finger on her! Do you hear me, you BASTARD?" Naruto roared.

Sasuke seemed to have regained his senses, for he simply huffed at this.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well if you´re gonna come at me, then hurry up! I don´t have time to dally here all day!" Sasuke said.

Naruto suddenly took a deep breath and relaxed. The anger left him. It was replaced by a burning DETERMINATION!

"Sasuke. I won´t let you go to Orochimaru. And do you know why? Orochimaru only wants your BODY! He´s not planning to give you power. He plans to take over your body, once you´ve grown up to his liking! But guess what? I won´t let that happen! I WON´T let that damned snake get his hands on another one of my friends! Not like he did with Kabuto-san! I don´t know if you believe me or not, Sasuke. But just listen. You are my rival, Sasuke. More importantly, you are my friend. One of my very important friends. I´m sure that everyone else back home in Konoha feels the same way! Sakura-chan feels the same way! Hell, she even went as far as to offer you to take her with you! Tsunade-obachan even sent a whole TEAM to get you back! Me, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Akamaru, and Kiba. Later on, even Thick Brows came to help! Now if THAT doesn´t show how much you mean to us, then I don´t know WHAT does!" Naruto said, his blue eyes burning with determination!

Sasuke took another involuntary step back. He clenched his fists and growled. Suddenly, he gripped his head and screamed as if he was in pain! He was attacked by a flood of memories! Memories of the good ol´ days in Konoha. He hated to admit it, but he actually DID enjoy living in Konoha back then. Sasuke screamed loudly in pain.  
He couldn´t handle it! Everything just crashed together in his head! The regret over leaving Konoha, the anger over being called weak, the frustration over not being strong enough, the jealousy over Naruto´s fast and powerfull progress. Everything just crashed together in his head! Then he went limp. Sasuke stood there, panting. Then suddenly, he brought his hands together and started making some rapid hand seals. Naruto´s eyes widened at this.  
Sasuke roared in anger and fire erupted from his body! Naruto backed off slightly at this. Then he set his jaw straight and clenched his fists.  
(I WON'T give up! Me and Sakura-chan are going home, and YOU are coming with us! Sasuke!) Naruto thought.  
Naruto glared straight back into Sasuke's red orbs.

* * *

Wow! Things are about to get ugly! Stay tuned for the next chapter, of "S-Rank mission! Bring Sasuke back!" 


	8. Salvation!

Chapter 8: Salvation!

"I never ASKED for you to come and get me! I am SO tired of you, dropout boy! DIE! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke roared.

A mass of fire left Sasuke and formed itself into the shape of a dragon! It headed straight for Naruto!  
The blonde Genin grinned despite this. Instead of running away or at least jumping over it, Naruto did something that no one had expected. He started _walking_. Naruto walked towards Sasuke with a grin on his face. T  
he fire dragon hit it´s mark with a loud bam! Sakura´s eyes widened with horror. Tears started running down her cheeks like two waterfalls.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed.

(No, no, no, no! Don´t die, Naruto! Please don´t...!) Sakura thought. Then, her eyes saw something that broke her miserable train of thoughts. Something that made her smile again. Something that made her wispher:

"Go do it!"

Sasuke relaxed slightly, then he tensed up again almost immediately. A second later, Naruto emerged from the smoke. Blue Chakra was burning around him and he was STILL grinning! Sasuke growled, then he roared!

"I said, DIE! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and fired off another attack.

This attack also hit it´s mark. But like before, Naruto emerged from the smoke and continued walking. His clothes were burned and so was most of his skin, but he didn´t even seem to care. He just kept on walking. Sasuke took a step back. He was starting to shake now. He quickly made some hand seals again.

"Why aren´t you dead yet? Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and sent another attack.

Naruto was hit and he staggered back a few steps. It only took a second for him to start walking again, though. Now he was only 6 meters from Sasuke. The raven haired boy was starting to sweat. He took two involuntary steps back.

"H, how? W, why? W, why do you KEEP walking? WHY? Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and fired off another attack.

Naruto was hit for the fourth time and he staggered back a little. He shook his head and started walking again. Naruto looked up, and Sasuke gasped. He was STILL grinning!

"Because..." The blonde boy mumbled.

Sakura stood a distance away. She had a small smile on her face.

"Because..." Sakura wisphered to herself.

"Because...I have promised to bring you back! You are important to us, Sasuke! To all of us! We all love you, Sasuke! If the only way for you to get that into your thick head, is for me to beat you up, then SO BE IT!" Naruto yelled.

He was only 3 meters from Sasuke now. Sasuke took another step back. He made the same hand seals again for the fifth time.

"S, stay away! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and flung off his fifth attack!

The attack hit Naruto and a large smoke cloud erupted from the impact. Sasuke panted hard. He was shaking in fear and his eyes were wide in disbelief. Then, it happened. Naruto emerged from the smoke cloud and leapt at the unsuspecting boy. Sasuke´s eyes went wider than saucers!

"I WON´T let Orochimaru get his hands on you! You´re too important to us!" Naruto yelled.

Kabuto finally snapped out of his trance at this point. He quickly ran forward to stop the blonde boy´s advances. A long slender leg swept him off his feet and stopped him instead, though. Kabuto looked up into the grim face of Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi wagged her finger back and forth. Sakura gave Kabuto a real death-glare.

"They are NOT to be disturbed!" Sakura stated, seriously.

She then went completely serious as she picked up a kunai. Kabuto knew that he had to wait for her to come off-guard before he could do anything without taking any risks. Naruto pulled back his fist and Sasuke raised his arms again.

"S, stay away! S, stay the hell away from me! STAY AWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!" Sasuke screamed.

In that instant, the sun began to set over the horizon.

In it´s last dying rays, Kabuto and Sakura saw something they never would have imagined. Standing with his arms around the raven haired boy, was Naruto. He had his head on Sasuke´s shoulder and he appeared to be shaking.

"Sasuke..." Naruto wisphered and tightened the so-called hug.

"Aaahh..." Sasuke couldn´t form a single word.

Everything in his brain stood still.

"You are our...irreplaceable...Uchiha. Our...very important...Sasu...ke..." Naruto trailed off.

The blonde boy then closed his eyes and went limp. He slid downwards. Just as he was going to hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him. Sasuke held Naruto close to him. He was shaking.

"Naruto...! You...really think that?" Sasuke said and his voice broke.

His burning desire to kill his brother...his lust for power...the avenger in him...they all disappeared briefly in that moment. Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto. Two drops fell, and they weren´t rain or blood. As Sasuke shed tears for the first time in many, many years, the Cursed Seal withdrew into the mark on his neck. It was in that instant, that he realised how much they all cared for him. It was then and there, that he realised how loved he had been all along back in Konoha.  
It was then, he realised that he had been on the brink of throwing it all away. Just to obtain enough power to kill one person. Sasuke clenched his fists hard and shook his head rapidly, making the tears fly from his eyes.  
He opened his eyes and looked down at the unconscious blonde boy in his arms. His coal black eyes shone with new life, with new determination! Seeing Naruto voluntarily taking Dragon Fire after Dragon Fire just to get him to understand how much he and the others cared, was enough to spark something that was supposedly dead within him. Sasuke bent down close to Naruto´s ear.

"Naruto...thank you." Sasuke breathed.

Sasuke gently laid Naruto on the ground. He stood up and turned around. What Sakura saw, made her smile broadly. The usuall scowl was on his face, but this time it was different from a few moments ago. His eyes were shining, his posture was relaxed, and his mouth, was formed into a smile.

"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled as tears of happiness flowed down her cheeks.

Sasuke looked at her with a genuine smile.

"What?" Sasuke said.

For the first time in years, he felt that he could take a free breath. Sakura was just going to say something, when a foot planted itself in her stomach. Sakura´s eyes went wide with pain and she coughed upp saliva, before crashing down onto the ground. Sasuke´s eyes widened in surprise, then they narrowed in anger. Kabuto got up on his feet and looked at Sasuke with his good old evil grin. He pushed up his glasses and started twirling a kunai in his hand.  
Sasuke took a step forward and growled. He was shaking with anger. Sasuke felt the Cursed Seal beg to be activated once again, but he firmly held it in with his will. (I will NOT use that damned thing again! No way in HELL!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke felt that most of his Chakra had already been used up.  
But that didn´t stop him from focusing a bit of what was left into his eyes.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke announced and opened his eyes wide.

His coal black eyes turned crimson with two black dots in each eye. Sasuke slid into a battle pose and glared at Kabuto. The Sound ninja sighed and smiled. Kabuto slid into a fighting stance as well.

"Well, well, well. It looks like you´ve had a change of heart, Sasuke-kun! And at the very last minute too! What a shame. Well, no matter. I will bring you to Orochimaru-sama with or without your consent! Orochimaru-sama can surely make you see things from his point of view! But, maybe all hope isn´t lost quite yet. I mean, you don´t even have your forehead protector! The very symbol of a ninja´s heritage and village! That means that you really _have_ thrown away Konoha!" Kabuto said.

Sasuke realised that there were some truth in his statement. Sasuke felt as if someone had dropped a huge ice cube into his stomach. But he shook his head and frowned. No, he had merely been on his way of throwing away Konoha, but he hadn´t. And that was what mattered. Then he spotted something beside him. Naruto lay beside him on the ground.  
Sasuke bent down and untied his forehead protector. He stood up straight and brought it up to his own forehead.

"I´m borrowing this! Naruto!" Sasuke wisphered.

Sasuke finished and brought his hands down from his head. The symbol of Konoha was once again proudly on his forehead! Kabuto frowned at this. Sasuke was slipping away from him and he realised it.

"Well! If you´re finished, let´s hurry up and finish this!" Kabuto exclaimed.

He started making hand seals. Tiger. Ram. Serpent. Tiger. Serpent. Dragon. Kabuto´s hands were enveloped in Chakra once again. Sasuke humphed at this and slid into his battle pose.

"Allright, then! Let´s get this party started!" Sasuke yelled.

Sasuke charged at Kabuto and threw a punch. Kabuto managed to block it though. Kabuto grinned, then he brought the kunai forward. Sasuke´s Sharingan helped him see it coming before the move was even made, so he dodged it by somersaulting over his enemy. Just as Sasuke flipped over Kabuto, the Sound ninja stopped his kunai-armed hand in mid-thrust, and spun around. He jerked the kunai straight into Sasuke´s stomach. Only that, it never got there.  
Sasuke´s Sharingan had once again served him well by foreseeing the move. Sasuke spun in the air and kicked the kunai out of Kabuto´s hand. But barely a second after the kick, came Kabuto´s Chakra enpowered hand and grabbed Sasuke´s foot!

"Arrgh!" Sasuke grunted and forced his foot out of his enemy´s grip.

As he landed a distance away, Sasuke felt a sharp pang of pain in his foot. The Uchiha looked down and didn´t see anything wrong with his foot. But when he tried to put some weight on it, it instantly started throbbing with pain.  
Sasuke let out a pained grunt at this.

"You bastard! What did you do?" Sasuke demanded.

Kabuto snickered.

"I used my Iron Ninjutsu to paralyze the nerves in your foot! I trust that you won´t be able to move around normally for a while!" Kabuto said.

"What? Damn it!" Sasuke grunted.

(Damn! What should I do now! My Chakra is low and now I can´t even move around normally? Damn it all! No, I´m not giving up! Not by a longshot!) Sasuke thought. He reached behind him and dug around in his item pouch. The Sound ninja grinned at him and reached within his own pocket. He pulled out a blue scroll. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this.  
He brought his hands up in front of him and made hand seals faster than the human eye could follow! Then he put two fingers at his mouth.

"Fire Element - Phoenix Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and spat out six fireballs.

He then brought his hands forward and charged after the flying fireballs. Kabuto grinned and made hand seals with the blue scroll in his hands. He then grabbed it in mid-air and unwrapped it. Kabuto spun it around himself and brought up two erect fingers to his face. Just as the fireballs were going hit him, his eyes snapped open.

"Blue Scroll! Scroll Technique! Water Element - Powerfull Water Spurt Technique!" Kabuto yelled.

The blue scroll then wrapped itself up again over Kabuto´s head. A powerfull spurt of water shot out from it a second later, it headed straight for the oncoming fireballs. The water completely drenched the fireballs, but what happened next came as a complete shock. For Kabuto, that is. Six kunai´s flew through the spurt of water and headed straight for him!  
The Sound ninja´s eyes widened at this. He quickly jumped into the air to avoid the kunai´s. Kabuto looked down and spotted a large fireball heading his way!  
Down on the ground, Sasuke stood with one of his fingers formed as a ring over his mouth. The fireball hit it´s target with an explosion! Sasuke brought his hand down and stared into the smoke cloud.  
He was panting and a drop of sweat made it´s way across his temple. Using the Phoenix Fire and the Grand Fireball Techniques had zapped almost all of his Chakra. He only had a minimum amount left. (If the Grand Fireball didn´t finish it, then I´m in trouble!) Sasuke thought. His legs wobbled lightly and he cursed. He was more drained than he thought.

"Red Scroll! Scroll Technique! Fire Element - Fire Rain Technique!"

Sasuke´s crimson red eyes widened.

"What the?" Sasuke gasped and looked up.

Multiple fireballs flew out of the smoke cloud and started making random impacts on the ground! Sasuke quickly started dodging them. Out of the smoke cloud, came his enemy. Kabuto´s clothes were slightly ripped and he had small burns on his skin. Kabuto held a red scroll in his hand, it was unwrapped and flapping around in the wind. Sasuke dodged the last fireball and landed on his knees. He was panting harder now. Kabuto landed a distance away.  
He stood up and brushed off his burnt clothes. The everlasting grin was on his face. Sasuke growled at this. (Damn it! Now what? I don´t have enough Chakra...) Sasuke thought. He pondered this intensively for the next dire seconds. But no matter how much he thought about it, no solution came to mind. Sasuke smiled sourly.

"You seem to be a pretty well prepared opponent, Kabuto! My Chakra is almost completely gone, while you seem to have quite a bit left! Well, there´s not much I can do about it..." Sasuke said.

Kabuto smiled at this and dropped the used scroll on the ground.

"Oh? So does that mean that you are going to come quietly now?" Kabuto asked.

Sasuke lowered his head, then he humphed. He lifted his head again and grinned. Something had happened to him during these last few seconds. A new kind of feeling was emanating from inside of him. Sasuke wondered what it was at first, then it came to him. (This...this must be the feeling...the drive... that Naruto felt when he was fighting Gaara in the forest.  
This must be the drive that he feels all the time when he fights! So THIS is what has been driving that loudmouth!  
Heh, it makes perfect sense!) Sasuke thought. He knew now what it was. It was the drive to protect.  
The drive to protect the ones you hold dear. The feeling was filling him, filling his body. Sasuke wasn´t sure how it had gotten there, but what he was sure of, was that the feeling, no, the craving, needed to be satisfied.  
His paralyzed foot didn´t matter, his wounds didn´t matter, Konoha didn´t matter, his low Chakra amount didn´t matter, and Orochimaru certainly didn´t matter. All that mattered was the drive. Sasuke looked down at his hands. They were trembling. Sasuke looked over at Naruto. (Naruto! I finally understand! Heh, it turned out that _I_ was the blockhead! Enough about that! Time to go!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke grinned at Kabuto, wich annoyed the Sound ninja greatly. Sasuke clenched his fists and stood upright.

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed!

The ground buckled beneath him and cracks traveled far from the crater! (Power...I need power! Not just to _be_ strong! No. I need power...so that I can _protect_ the ones I love! I need power...!) Sasuke thought. The Cursed Seal on his neck flashed dangerously red, then it shone white! A roar traveled from Sasuke´s stomach, up to his throat and out through his mouth! Then three strong yellow beams of light shot out from the Cursed Seal!  
Sasuke´s roar rose into a scream that was louder than every scream he had ever let loose! The yellow beams now ceased and the Cursed Seal came into view again. This time it was different. The Evil Suppressor had disappeared. It had been replaced by a black ring that went around the three dots that made the Cursed Seal.  
Three quirks stood out from the ring. (_The "quirks" looks like the quirks in Itachi´s Mangekyou Sharingan in the manga_) Sasuke stopped screaming and lowered his arms to his sides. He dropped his head and just stood there. Kabuto stared at him, dumbfounded. Then Sasuke´s head flew back up and his eyes snapped open.  
Kabuto took an involuntary breath as he found the Sharingan staring back at him! Then the Seal on Sasuke´s neck glowed navy-blue. It started spinning and markings spread out across the Uchiha´s body. Kabuto gasped as he saw this.

"W, what the hell´s going on here? T, those aren´t Cursed Seal markings! B, but they came from the Cursed Seal! W, what are they?" Kabuto stuttered.

The markings did indeed look a lot like the Cursed Seal markings. But these markings were navy-blue, not black. Sasuke started growling, then he roared! Dark-blue Chakra exploded from his body! It burned strongly around his body as he relaxed slightly. Sasuke brought up his hands to his face. He slowly clenched and unclenched his fingers. His Sharingan eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

"Different...this power is...different...! It´s, it´s incredible! I´ve never felt this kind of power! This is...this is the power to protect! Not to destroy! W, what a difference! I´m filled with so much power that it almost scares me! But at the same time, it feels _good_!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Sasuke stared at his hands for a few more seconds, then he looked up. Kabuto was paralyzed with shock. He couldn´t believe what he was seeing! And for a good reason! Sasuke reached up and put his hand on a special place on his neck. (This...this isn´t the Cursed Seal! The Cursed Seal has changed, somehow. This is almost too much!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke shook his head and removed his hand from the Seal. (This isn´t the time to be wondering about events! This is the time to fight!) Sasuke thought. He put his left arm behind his back and stuck out his right arm before him.

"It´s time to put the Iron Fist Style to good use! You ready, Kabuto? HERE I COME!" Sasuke yelled and charged!


	9. Roar! Sasuke's new power explodes!

Chapter 9: Roar! Sasuke's new power explodes!

Sasuke roared, then he disappeared!  
Kabuto´s eyes widened in surprise! He looked around quickly, trying to spot the Uchiha. Unfortunately for him, Uchiha Sasuke found him first. A hand planted itself firmly on the ground and a foot smashed itself into his jaw! Kabuto left the ground due to the force of the kick.  
Sasuke went down on all fours and pushed away from the ground. He flew up behind Kabuto and put his hand on his back. Sasuke spun Kabuto and delivered a kick to his side. Kabuto was so shocked by the force in Sasuke´s first kick, that he completely missed the next one!  
He was hit and a light "crunch" was heard.  
Kabuto coughed up a little blood. Sasuke went up beside him, raised his fist and smashed it straight into Kabuto´s face. The force sent him plummeting towards the ground! Sasuke turned in the air and dove down. He smashed his fist into Kabuto´s stomach, making him cough up more blood. Sasuke then spun around and planted his heel right in the middle of his solar plexus just as he hit the ground.

"Lion Combo!" Sasuke yelled.

Kabuto coughed up a final spurt of blood before the combo finished. Sasuke somersaulted away from him and landed a distance away. He entered the Iron Fist Style battle pose as he waited for his opponent to get back up. Kabuto slowly but surely got back up on his feet.  
He was pressing his right hand against his solar plexus where he was hit by Sasuke´s destructive kick.  
His hand was glowing with green Chakra, which meant that he was healing himself. Kabuto let out a sigh, and then he chuckled! His chuckle grew into laughter, which made Sasuke wonder about the Sound ninja's mental stability. Then, something happened that Sasuke had never thought possible. Black markings spread out across Kabuto´s body, and his laughter increased in volume.  
When his body was completely covered, he stopped laughing. Purple Chakra exploded around him and made the ground cave in under his feet! Kabuto pulled out two different coloured scrolls and unwrapped them. One of them was red and the other one was brown. He spun both of them around him while sending Chakra into the scrolls. Kabuto´s eyes snapped open and he opened his mouth.

"Red Scroll! Brown Scroll! Double Scroll Technique! Explosion Technique!" Kabuto yelled.

He wrapped up the scrolls and grabbed them firmly. Then he slammed the scrolls into the ground. Black markings flew out of the scrolls and dug into the ground. Kabuto remained in that position even after the markings had stopped coming out. Sasuke´s eyes darted back and forth, but he couldn't see anything strange or unusual.  
Suddenly, the ground broke under his feet and a sharp white light shone through! Sasuke gasped and the light intensified. A big explosion rocked the ground a second later. It formed a large crater where Sasuke once stood. Kabuto grinned and stood up straight. He looked to the left. Naruto was lying unconscious on the ground. He looked to the right. Sakura was also unconscious on the ground. Kabuto chuckled, then he looked forward. His chuckling came to an abrupt stop as he did so. The crater before him...was empty.  
(What the? Surely the explosion wasn't so strong that it disintegrated his body!) Kabuto thought. He frowned in confusion for a second, then his eyes widened. He quickly looked up and was greeted by a hard kick in the chin. Kabuto crashed into the ground, but he flipped himself onto his feet again almost immediately. Kabuto looked up as a pair of feet touched the ground. He growled slightly at what he saw.  
Sasuke stood before him in his new battle pose. The fact that a grin was playing in the corner of his mouth, irritated Kabuto. But what really ticked him off, was that the raven haired boy was completely unscratched.  
Sasuke waited for Kabuto to make his move. He was thrilled by how powerful he was, and he felt that he needed to test his new power further. Sasuke had to know if he really was powerful enough to protect the ones close to him.  
An interesting idea took form in his mind and a full-fledged grin sprouted on his lips. Sasuke bent his knees in preparation.  
Kabuto saw this and took his own battle stance.  
Sasuke pushed away from the ground and disappeared. Kabuto quickly used his Cursed Seal-enhanced senses to locate the powerful Genin. He gasped as he located him less than a meter from him! The raven haired boy was standing behind him! Sasuke waited until Kabuto turned, and then he smashed his fist into the very centre of his face.  
As Kabuto staggered back slightly, Sasuke disappeared. He reappeared right before his enemy and planted his hand on the ground. Sasuke rammed his foot straight into Kabuto's jaw. The Sound ninja's feet left the ground due to the great force in the kick. Sasuke leapt after him. He manoeuvred in the air so that he was positioned behind Kabuto. Sasuke then grabbed Kabuto so that his arms were pinned to his body. He vaulted so that their heads pointed towards the ground.

"Eat this!" Sasuke yelled.

Sasuke started spinning himself and Kabuto around faster and faster, until they were nothing more than a blur of colours!  
Kabuto tried to break out of the grip but he was still injured from his enemy's earlier attack. (Damn it! I have to activate my healing ability! If I don't, then I'll be...!) Kabuto thought.  
The small tornado flew down to the ground with a rotation speed that would impress Kiba!

"Initial Lotus!" Sasuke yelled.

He released Kabuto and jumped away from him with less than a second to spare! Kabuto's eyes widened and he yelled, then he smashed into the ground. A powerful shockwave ripped through the ground and air due to the massive force of the impact. The ground broke where the impact was made, creating a crater with chunks of it sticking up into the air.  
Sasuke managed, with some difficulty, to vault himself back onto his feet. He was out of breath and he struggled to regain it. A sudden jolt of pain made Sasuke gasp. He grabbed his chest and panted.

"Man! That move sure does...take a lot out of you! I'm beginning...to see why Lee only uses this move as a...last resort. Well, it looks like that finished it." Sasuke exclaimed.

Sasuke stood up and took one last deep breath. After that, his breathing was steady. The new Chakra that was currently running in his Chakra Circulatory System made him recover much faster than usual. Sasuke stared intensively into the rising pillar of smoke before him. His foe was hidden from view by the smoke.  
Sasuke waited for 30 seconds, then he let out a relaxed sigh.  
(It´s over.) He thought.

"Unn..."

Sasuke heard something and looked over his shoulder.  
A distance away, Sakura was slowly getting back up on her feet. She held her stomach and took some deep breaths before standing up fully. Sakura´s head darted from left to right quickly, before she spotted Sasuke. Her apple-coloured eyes widened at the sight of him.  
Sasuke raised a quizzial eyebrow at her. Then he remembered that his body was covered in different markings than before. Sasuke chuckled. This was going to be fun.  
Sakura ran up to Naruto and kneeled beside him. She shook him gently while calling his name in an attempt at waking him up. Sakura let out a sigh of relief when Naruto finally groaned and his eyelids fluttered. The pink haired kunoichi lifted her head from Naruto briefly to look at Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Are you alright? Where´s Kabuto-san?" Sakura shouted at him.

Sasuke jabbed his thumb behind him as he walked towards her.

"That bastard is right-"

Sasuke was roughly interrupted when the crater behind him exploded! The raven haired genius turned and looked into the new smoke cloud. He frowned. Sakura´s eyes widened in shock and her heart skipped a beat. The explosion had caught her completely off-guard!

"W, what´s going on? Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke could now make out a dark silouette inside the smoke. His eyes narrowed.

"It´s Kabuto. We fought, he lost. He then activated his Cursed Seal. We fought again, he lost again.  
And now...if I am not mistaken...he´s going to activate level 2. If he´s not in that state already." Sasuke stated.

Sakura´s eyes widened even more. She put her hand on her stomach and felt a weak pang of pain.  
Sakura removed her hand from her stomach and put it on Naruto´s forehead instead. The blonde boy had managed to fall unconscious again. Sakura made a weak attempt at waking him up again, while watching the events happening before her.

The smoke eventually dispersed, and the person inside was revealed.  
Sasuke slowly moved so that he was standing between his friends and the enemy.

"Well, well, well! You really _are_ something else, Sasuke-kun! To think that I would have to change into _this_ form...well, it wouldn´t be interesting if it weren´t like this!"

Sasuke quickly got himself into the Iron Fist battle pose. Now he knew that it was Kabuto. He recognised the voice, even though itwas slightly rougher than before.  
And through the very last bit of smoke, came his enemy. Kabuto took off his glasses and threw them over his shoulder. He smirked at Sasuke.  
Said Genin didn´t flinch at the Sound ninja´s appeareance.  
Which Sakura did.  
The female ninja had a hand pressed against her mouth and her eyes were wide. She was shocked to say the least!  
Kabuto´s normally silver hair had turned black. It stretched and arched down his back. His skin had turned brown.  
Kabuto´s coal black eyes had turned amber. Two horns stuck out of his forehead. The only detail that allowed you to recognise him in this state, was his attire. Kabuto actually looked dangerous now.  
Sasuke however, hardly reacted at all. He was too used to strange transformations to be surprised.  
It was at this point that Sakura snapped out of her state of trance. She swallowed and looked down at Naruto.  
Sakura put her hands around him and gently dragged him behind a big tree.  
(This won´t protect us, but it´s better than nothing!) Sakura thought.  
Sasuke looked over his shoulder just as Sakura and Naruto disappeared from view. Once he had made sure  
that they were out of sight, Sasuke turned back to Kabuto. The skilled Konoha ninja bent his knees in preparation.

"You seem quite eager to fight, Kabuto! Well if you´re gonna fight someone, then fight me!" Sasuke said.

Kabuto laughed at Sasuke as if he had just said that people need air to live.

"Oh, I WILL fight you, Sasuke-_kun_... I WILL!" Kabuto declared.

A sinister laugh echoed throughout the glade.


	10. Regenerative enemy! Kabuto´s power!

Chapter 10: Regenerative enemy! Kabuto´s power!

Kabuto and Sasuke stood a distance away from each other. They stared into each other's eyes,  
barely blinking. One blink that took too long could very well be your last. They both knew this.  
Kabuto gave a low chuckle, and then he smirked.

"Just a thought... Where did you pick up that move? I'm positive that neither Maito Gai nor Rock Lee taught you Initial Lotus. Or Lotus at all. And I'm also sure of that you have never seen anyone perform it, so you  
can´t have copied it. So how come you know it?" Kabuto asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but decided to answer.

"You're pretty well informed Kabuto. But I trust that you don't know what happened during that month of training during the Chuunin Exam. Did you for example know that I trained with Copy Ninja Kakashi? No? Well too bad." Sasuke stated.

Kabuto smiled at this.

"Heh, heh, heh! Now I see… So it was Kakashi, Maito Gai´s rival, who taught you that move… Interesting.  
Heh, if I´d known…. Then I would have payed attention to that too. It really _is_ too bad!"  
Kabuto exclaimed with a chuckle at the end.

Sasuke nodded at his statement.

"Yes. Gai has fought with Kakashi many times, and I doubt that he didn't use at least Initial Lotus against him.  
Gai later told Kakashi how Lotus worked as a kind of spur of the moment. Add Kakashi´s Sharingan to that and you get a complete understand about how Lotus works. Since I had already copied Lee´s Taijutsu moves earlier, all Kakashi had to do was to tell me how it worked. I managed to do it on my own a while after that.  
And there you have it." Sasuke explained.

Kabuto snickered at this and nodded. He then put his hands on his horns and pulled.  
Sasuke´s right eye twitched as a sickening _splurch _was heard.  
Kabuto lowered his arms. His horns were in his hands.  
Blood ran down his temples from the two holes in his head.  
Sasuke couldn´t help but shiver mentally at the sight. Then he saw something that made him frown deeply.  
The two holes in Kabuto´s head were _healing_ themselves.  
Sasuke was sure of this, because he could _see_ them closing up.  
Kabuto spun the horns around in his hands so that the sharp pointy ends were directed towards the ground.  
He bent his knees and with a savage cry, launched himself at his enemy with a god-like burst of speed.  
Sasuke immediately drew two kunai and brought them up before him just in time to deflect Kabuto´s  
razor-sharp weapons!  
Sasuke grunted and pressed his kunai´s against the Sound ninja´s discarded horns.  
Kabuto pressed back and managed to push Sasuke backwards.  
Sasuke broke the stand-still by vaulting away from him.  
Kabuto dashed over to him immediately, though.  
An all out clash now began.  
Sasuke and Kabuto slashed at each other but neither got in any hits.  
Whatever slash Kabuto made, Sasuke countered. And vice-versa.  
Sasuke blocked two slashes from different directions. He then somersaulted backwards while  
bringing his foot upwards in the process. The kick hit it´s mark and Kabuto staggered back slightly.  
(Now! Now´s my chance!) Sasuke thought as his enemy staggered.  
He dropped his weapons and brought his hands together. The kunai dug lightly into the ground just as the  
raven haired boy finished his set of hand seals.  
Sasuke took a deep breath as an inferno of fire erupted around him! It was time for him to use one of his  
clan´s old but powerful moves.

"Fire Element - Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled.

A massive wave of fire left Sasuke and formed itself into a giant dragonhead! It smashed itself straight into  
Kabuto and exploded upon impact! The black haired ninja was sent flying backwards straight into a tree.  
Only that, he never got there.  
Sasuke blurred out and reappeared behind the airborne Sound ninja. He stuck his left arm towards the ground  
and grabbed a hold of his wrist with his right hand. He spread his fingers and sent a massive amount of Chakra  
into his hand. A clear blue-white ball appeared in his hand. It crackled with electricity.  
Sasuke grinned savagely and brought his left arm back while holding onto his left shoulder with the other hand.  
Kabuto´s eyes snapped open and he immediately sensed the large amount of Chakra behind him.  
Unfortunately for him, he never got the chance to react.  
Sasuke let out a loud roar!

"CHIDORI!" Sasuke screamed and slammed his palm into Kabuto´s back.

The Chakra collected in his palm exploded in a flash of light! Bolts of lightning crashed into the ground around them! Kabuto let out a loud yell of pain! Sasuke growled dangerously, then he pulled his right hand back.  
He smashed his right fist into Kabuto´s back and sent him flying once again! Sasuke watched as the Sound ninja skidded a distance across the ground before coming to a full stop. When he slammed into the trunk of a tree, that this.  
Sasuke´s Sharingan eyes managed to take in how much damage his attack had done,  
while Kabuto was still skidding across the ground.  
While he hadn´t managed to impale him on his arm, he had been successful in making a nice big wound.  
Sasuke´s hand stopped glowing and the lightning emanating from it disappeared.  
The young Uchiha was slightly out of breath due to expending such a large amount of Chakra in one move.  
Using the Sharingan together with the Chidori was enough to zap a big chunk of his Chakra. Despite him  
having the new Seal activated.  
Sasuke was amazed at himself. He had just used Chidori for the second time that day and he  
felt like he still had a good amount of Chakra left.  
His thought´s came to an abrupt halt, as a sudden movement caught his eye. Sasuke gasped as he looked at his  
fallen enemy. Only that, he wasn´t fallen anymore.  
Kabuto was standing up on his own now. He had his back to Sasuke and appeared to be panting.  
Sasuke´s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he looked at the wound on the Sound ninja´s back.  
(What the hell? I KNOW I hit him full-force with the Chidori, and I KNOW that I made a pretty big wound!  
But the wound´s been reduced to mere scratches in seconds! What the hell is this...inhuman regeneration?) Sasuke thought.  
The wound had indeed been reduced to small scratches.  
The Sound ninja humphed and turned around, facing his enemy.

"Incredible, isn´t it? This is my regeneration ability." Kabuto stated with a smirk.

Sasuke frowned at this.

"Regeneration ability? I must say that I´m surprised. I didn´t know that the Cursed Seal could give  
a person such an ability." Sasuke said.

Kabuto chuckled.

"I´m afraid that you have it all wrong, Sasuke-kun. I have always had this regeneration ability.  
Heh, it´s rather unbelievable isn´t it? To have the ability to activate one´s cells and create new ones!  
And let me tell you that... Whenever I have the Level 2 Cursed Seal activated, my regeneration ability´s  
efficiency is multiplied by ten! So whenever I´m injured while in Level 2, my wounds heals themselves  
in a matter of seconds! And not only is the healing sped up, but the necessary Chakra amount that is used  
is minimized! So you see, you´d have to try VERY hard to keep me injured while in Level 2!  
Heh, heh, heh! I would have trouble with injuring myself even!  
So! What are you going to do? Sasuke-kun?" Kabuto explained, with a taunt to end it with.

Sasuke growled and resumed his fighting stance.

"Three things! First, I´m gonna rip you to shreds for what you did to Sakura.  
Second, I will whoop your sorry ass time and time again until you´re not recognisable!  
And thirdly... I am going to kill you. Just to show Orochimaru what happens when you try to use  
a member of the Uchiha Clan as your private plaything!" Sasuke stated.

"Hmm, I see... Sakura-san, is it?" Kabuto mumbled, mostly to himself.

Sasuke´s right eye twitched. He didn´t like the tone in his voice one bit.  
Kabuto chuckled. It grew into a laugh. His laugh grew into a louder laugh! Kabuto then blurred away.  
He reappeared on the same spot in a second, though. However, he wasn´t alone this time.  
Sasuke gasped in shock and his eyes turned back to black.  
He immediately whipped out his last kunai and growled.  
He couldn´t believe how ignorant he had been to not have realised which specific tree Kabuto slammed into.  
(I bet the bastard LET me attack him so that he could get close to Naruto and Sakura!  
That way, he could nab one of them and use them as a shield against me if things got out of hand for him!  
Goddammnit! I am SO going to kill him if he hurts her!) Sasuke thought.

"Let go of her... Or you´ll be VERY sorry!" Sasuke stated with a look that said,  
'Yes, IAM going to kill you! And there is NOTHING you can do about it!'

Kabuto simply chuckled. He was holding one of his horns close to a pale throat. The sharp edge were mere  
inches away from the kunoichi´s throat.  
Sakura shook with fear and disorientation. One second she had been tending to Naruto, and the next, she  
was being held with one arm behind her back and having something very sharp close to her throat.  
Standing a distance ahead of her, was Sasuke.  
Sakura could see that quite well. The pink haired kunoichi knew that she had to keep calm,  
despite the situation she was in. Sakura tried to calm herself by repeatingtwo mantras in  
her mind. One went, _Sasuke will never let him hurt me-Sasuke will never let him hurt me_.  
And the other went, _Naruto will never EVER let him hurt me-Naruto will never EVER  
let him hurt me_.  
It worked to an extent. But it wasn´t enough to silence the voice in the back of her head that  
told her the sheer opposite of her self-assuring mantras.  
Kabuto gave an evil laugh before looking at Sasuke.

"My, my! Aren´t we a little fiesty today? What´s the matter? Afraid that I might do something bad?  
Afraid that I might even _hurt_ her? My, that is so unlike you, Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto said.

Sasuke growled and bent his knees. He was not going to let him hurt Sakura. No way in HELL!  
Kabuto then drew a small line across the young woman´s throat. The girl shuddered and  
a drop of blood made it´s way down her throat.  
Sasuke saw this and his eyes turned the very same colour with four black dots decorating them.  
He bent his knees further and was just going to leap in for the kill, when a streak of orange flew past  
his vision.

"Did you like that? Well then, let´s see how you like th- Arrggh!"

Kabuto was interrupted rather roughly by a full force shoulder tackle! He dropped the horn and flew  
straight into a tree right beside the one he first slammed into. Sakura fell to her knees as soon as the  
tension broke. She was shaking slightly but she willed herself to calm down. She instead looked up  
at the person who saved her. Sakura inhaled sharply.  
Kabuto shook his head rapidly before staring murderously at the person responsible for tackling him.  
His murderous glare crumbled instantly, though. The crimson red eyes that met his own gaze completely  
murdered his attempts at glaring.

"Don´t...EVER...touch...Sakura...chan... IS. THAT. CLEAR?"

Sasuke humphed. Then he smiled.

"Right on time, klutz." Sasuke said.

Naruto turned to him and simply nodded, which surprised the raven haired boy greatly.  
His eyes were blue again. They flashed dangerously red, however, when he looked over at Kabuto.  
The blonde boy opened his mouth to say something, but a pink and red bundle tackled him to the ground.

"NARUTO! You´re alright!" Sakura shouted in happiness.

Naruto smiled and hugged her back. He put his mouth at her ear.

"Let´s do this later, alright? I´ve got something to do before we break the news to Sasuke!" Naruto said.

Sakura agreed. She allowed Naruto to get back up onto his feet. Naruto set his jaw straight and his  
eyes changed to red. Sakura saw this but decided not to ask about it. There were more pressing matters  
at hand now.  
Sasuke suddenly appeared beside them. The tattooed boy looked at Naruto in slight question.  
Naruto wasn´t one of the brightest when it came to taking hints, but this one he understood fully.

"I woke up a couple of minutes ago and Sakura-chan hurridly explained everything to me, right before  
that bastard nabbed her! I am SO going to kick his sorry behind!" Naruto stated.

Sasuke grinned and shook his head. Some people just never changed.  
Then, Kabuto appeared before them. Whatever bruise he might have gotten from Naruto´s surprise  
attack had been instantaneously healed. Kabuto snarled at the three youngsters.

"So you wanna play rough, do you? Alright then! As you wish! I won´t hold back anymore!"  
Kabuto growled.

Naruto put his hands together and red Chakra immediately erupted around him! His hands gained claws,  
his feet gained claws, and his mouth gained fangs. His whole body sunk low to the ground and  
his posture became distinctly fox-like.  
Sakura gaped in shock at his transformation! She had never seen anything like that in her whole life!  
Naruto growled and went down on all fours. He stepped up beside Sasuke.

"Let´s try and fight together for once, Sasuke! Let´s try our hand at reviving our teamwork long-gone!"  
Naruto suggested, his voice rougher than usual.

Sasuke nodded and entered his battle pose.

"Agreed, Naruto! There won´t be a problem in cutting the bastard in two! What will become  
problematic...is who takes what half of him as a trophy?" Sasuke said with a smile.

Kabuto humphed and raised his two horns, which he had somehow managed to get his hands on again,  
and entered a battle stance.  
Naruto and Sasukesent him equally powered savage grins. This fight was going to be good. Really good.


End file.
